What, irl? I'm still using an old set of Whitlock's mostly

Ooh an exotic. Do you tinker with points, shafts, and flights much? It rarely crossed my mind until I ordered a bunch of different molded flights and realized how different they are. That's when I started paying closer attention to what pros are using. Is that something you keep an eye on?

I am nowhere near good enough to notice any sort of difference

I believe that the setup (flights and shafts) matter just as much if not more than the dart itself. I would say try different combos of flight shapes and shaft lengths and try to notice which way your darts land in the board. Make sure that every dart lands in the same direction, if not it means you're not releasing the dart the same way every time in which case you should try to work on your form before anything else. Then try to see which way your second and third dart land when using the previous dart as a marker with each combination and just choose the best one based on those results.

^ Of course but that's basic stuff. I'm talking about the differences between molded flight systems. They're drastically different when grouping in that Robin Hoods are virtually eliminated but can lead to some weird deflections. I'd guess about a quarter of the top 30 OoM are using some kind of molded flight now, mostly the integrated ones and particularly the newer stiff resin material (Condor Axe, Target K-Flex, Winmau Fusion).

I need to try some of those at some point, but they seem pricey (probably ten times more expensive) compared to my standard setup when I'm nowhere near good enough to tell if it is the system that is improving the game or just random session to session variance

Heta won today's Pro Tour, Searle yesterday's after Ryan finished runner up in the first two last week, nothing now before the UK Open apart from some ET qualifiers and the first Dev Tour weekend

The advantages are

(1) no Robin Hoods
(2) maintain their 90-degree shape
(3) rarely come off the dart
(4) extremely durable*

*The important thing to know is that you can't have a lip at the point / barrel junction. If you do then expect to destroy them quickly while also getting horrible deflections. I burned through a few sets before I figured this out then finally switched to storm points, although you can probably get by with trident cones. Now I won't consider using non-molded flights. Here's how my current set of L-Style EZ look after two months of daily throwing:



I think the jury is still out on whether the newer integrated flight / stem systems actually allow for tighter groupings. They're designed to do that with the flexible and grooved shaft, but I haven't seen any convincing evidence yet. That said, it's simple in the sense that it's one piece you screw into the back of the dart and you're done. Condor Axe will set you back 15 to 20 quid however. Target K-Flex and Winmau Fusion about half that if you can find them in stock.

After throwing some of these side by side for a while I noticed that they aren't equal. In particular, the Robson Plus I found to be almost unplayable. Wild and unpredictable deflections regardless of which point was on the dart. I'm actually surprised that any pros are using them. See Christian Perez against Barney today (2nd dart @ 19:33). That's exactly the result I'd expect throwing into the back of Robsons. Can't believe he went for a third dart there.

https://youtu.be/YaQBGZwhQv8?t=1166

UK Open starts tomorrow, already posted up thoughts but will get bets up later tonight

Nice writeup. What' the deal with Gates?

Was basically refusing any pictures, autographs etc after the quali and generally being a dick

Have added three more bets to what was posted earlier

Wow what a prick. Imagine trying to big time people as an American darter. Jermaine cracking here.

Rowby match was wild. Starts down 0-3 but checks 140, 136, 106, and closes 72 with T1 19 DB to win 6-4.

https://recap.dartconnect.com/games/...718706c39cec26

yeah, that was unfortunate, but was still up for the session

some big ties in round 4 - whitlock/heta, dvd/humphries, wade/littler, smith/cullen are probably the picks

****ing de sousa ruining everything

Fear I'm at the stage where I'm going to be betting against Littler any time he plays someone remotely competent, Schindler beating Price then getting installed at longer than 3/1 is all kinds of lol, sure Luke can go mad and win 10-2 or something but the process is correct

Right on cue. Schindler had plenty of darts to take it too.

Woodhouse knocking out Smith and Ando doing the job keeps me in the black just fine

Holy **** at Bunting / Doets. What a meltdown. Kev missing rather badly there when it was on the line.

Wright throwing two different colors of Axe Neons has me on low key tilt not gonna lie.

Last 16 draw

Wright v Bunting
King v Humphries
Clayton v Van den Bergh
Heta v van Veen
Evans v Woodhouse
Lukeman v Anderson
Cross v Barry
Littler v Chisnall

With Ando gone this is just a Littler procession isn't it

Bunting looked rough in the early rounds and Snakebite had been warming up, but this is a complete reversal of fortunes so far.

Wow 10-9 great marquee match.

I guess Dimitri had a bet on both players to miss match darts given how much it looked like he was choking the title away

Almost Dmitri van de Velde.